A Systems Approach to Crisis Preparedness and Organizational Resilience

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Idealized Design

Idealized Design is an organizational development process developed by Russell L. Ackoff in the 1950's which enables an organization to get beyond the problem solving mode and unleash their innovative potential.

Method

“An idealized design of a system is the design its stakeholders would have right now if they could have any system they wanted. The design is subject to only two constraints: it must be technologically feasible (no science fiction), and it must be operationally viable (capable of surviving in the current environment if it came into existence, with or without modification). The design has one requirement: it must be capable of rapid and effective learning and adaptation, and therefore be able to change. It is called idealized because it is the best ideal-seeking systems its designers could imagine at the time, recognizing that they and others may be able to imagine a better one in the future.” (WHCA, 1996)

Read A Brief Guide to Interactive Planning and Idealized Design, which is the most succinct overview of Interactive Planning and Idealized Design to date.

References

Articles

The unedited transcript of the conversation between Ackoff and Deming, as moderated by Clare Crawford Mason. This transcript reveals the views of two preeminant thinkers in systems thinking. They discuss the relevancy and the application of systems worldview to the intractable problems and societal ills.

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Date Page Created: Apr 20, 2011 Last Page Update: Oct 4, 2022